In an incident that shows the state of healthcare in Andhra Pradesh, as many as 10 patients undergoing treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Anantapur Government General Hospital died during the last 10 hours. The deaths were reported from the small hours of Wednesday till afternoon. The relatives of the patients have staged a dharna on the premises of the hospital.

YSRCP MLA Visweswar Reddy, MLC Gopala Reddy, YSRCP leader Topudurthi Prakash Reddy and others rushed to the Government general hospital to take stock of the situation. They said under the TDP rule, the public health system has completely collapsed. They said the health minister owes an explanation to the people of the state. They said the infrastructure at the hospital needs to be improved and all the vacancies need to be filled immediately.

Leaders of the Left Parties also staged a dharna in front of the hospital. They demanded that the Government announce an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh each to the kin of the deceased and wanted that the government upgrade facilities and fill the vacancies. They also wanted health minister Kamineni Srinivas to resign owning up responsibility for the deaths.

However, hospital superintendent Jagannatham said of the 8 patients, who died, as many as six patients were in terminal condition and were admitted to the hospital after private hospitals set them away as their condition turned critical. He said none of the patients died because of viral fevers. "Some have died because of kidney failure and some more due to heart conditions. One patient died of septicemia. They were all brought to the hospital after private hospitals discharged them in terminal condition," he said. He added that there was no short supply of oxygen in the hospital.